


And After

by jakia



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, M/M, Romance, fjord and molly friendship, jester and caleb friendship, springtime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 19:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15178154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jakia/pseuds/jakia
Summary: The first 24 hours of Caleb and Molly’s new relationship. [One shot. Molly/Caleb. So much fluff it will rot your teeth in.]





	And After

**Author's Note:**

> I've read a lot of Widomauk fic the past few days. Lots of smut, too. And while the smut is great, a lot of it is "they had sex" then the fic ends, without talking about feelings and relationships and where they go after they start having sex. So...that's what this fic is. Enjoy.

1.

 

The room is very quiet, filled with nothing but the sound of the two of them breathing, and it is dark, and Molly’s skin is very warm, the only comfort to be found in this shitty inn they’ve rented for the night. Caleb waits and breathes, his head on Molly’s chest, content with the silence and the warmth of skin against skin.

 

Molly, however, has never once been content with silence before in his life, so he wraps an arm around Caleb and tugs the blanket closer. “So...that was fun.”

 

Caleb doesn’t mean to snort with laughter, but he does, and in the darkness he makes out the slight curved grin on Molly’s face as well. “Ja, it was. I enjoyed myself at least,” he raises an eyebrow suggestively. “Did you?”

 

“Oh yeah,” the tiefling grins, his tail finding its way around Caleb’s leg. “Definitely no complaints here. I suppose I’m just wondering what happens now?”

 

“You mean, with us?”

 

“ _ Ja _ ,” Molly teases.

 

“Well, I suppose it could be a one-time thing,” Caleb muses, his finger lightly tracing the peacock feather pattern on Molly’s chest. “If that’s what you, then that’s fine by me,” Molly doesn’t say anything, suspiciously quiet, and that alone inspires Caleb to keep talking, eager to fill the silence with the thoughts in his head. “Or we could be lovers--do the whole relationship courtship thing, hold each other’s hands, sleep in the same bed every night. Kiss, if you want.”

 

Molly  _ freezes _ , stops petting Caleb’s leg with his tail, and Caleb knows then that he’s lost him, he’s pushed too far, asked for too much, and now he’ll be lucky if Molly wants anything to do with him. “Lovers?”

 

“We do not  _ have  _ to,” Caleb hurries, corrects himself, setting up now so that he’s face to face with Molly, his elbows digging into Molly’s chest. “We can go back to being friends--pretend this never happened, if that’s what you want.”

 

Molly frowns. “That’s not what I want. Last night was  _ amazing _ , why would I want to pretend it never happened?” Molly leans forward now, his back against the wall as opposed to flat in bed. “Wait, do  _ you  _ want to pretend it never happened?”

 

“No! Not at all,” Caleb bites his lip. “Last night was fantastic. I would like--I would like  _ more  _ nights like it, if I’m being honest. But you started to freeze, and so I wanted to give you an out, if you needed one.” He runs a hand through Molly’s curls, pushing some of the hair behind Molly’s ear. “I want whatever  _ you  _ want. You will not offend me,  _ liebling _ ,”

 

Molly smiles, and pulls Caleb closer to his chest, wrapping his arms around Caleb’s back. The embrace is warm and soft, and Caleb is already tired. It’s tempting to fall back asleep, with Molly’s arms wrapped around him. He closes his eyes and enjoys the moment, the warmth and the feel skin against skin.

 

“I’ve never had a lover before,” Molly confesses into his hair, his voice such a whisper that Caleb barely hears it. “That’s why I froze, darling.”

 

That causes Caleb to pull back, looking his tiefling straight in the eyes. “You’ve never…?” He gestures between them, trying to encompass everything--their naked bodies, their closeness. “Before?”

 

“I’ve had  _ sex _ ,” Molly clarifies. It’s hard to tell in the darkness, but Caleb thinks he may be blushing. “I’ve had lots of sex. But I’ve never had a--a  _ relationship _ , as it were. It’s easy to forget, but I only remember the past two years of my life. Everyone I’ve ever slept with made it clear at the beginning that it was just a one-time thing. Or it was a prostitute, so the “one time” thing was sort of implied.” 

 

Caleb smirks again, letting his head fall so his hair is in his face. “I was going to say, if that was your first time having sex, then you are a  _ very  _ talented man.”

 

“You already knew that about me though, right?” Molly winks, and Caleb laughs. “Seriously though. I don’t--I don’t know how I feel about us being in a relationship.”

 

Caleb shrugs, leans forward and kisses Molly. “Then we do not have to be in one. You are a handsome young man, Mollymauk. I’m sure you want to keep your options open, and that’s fine. I’m grateful enough that I got to have your attention for an evening as it is.”

 

“I don’t know how I feel about relationships because  _ I’ve never been in one _ , not that I don’t  _ want  _ to be in one.” Molly frowns. “That’s not--I don’t mean--I’m making a right mess of this, aren’t I?” He shakes his head before pulling on Caleb’s hands, holding the both of them clasped in his own. 

 

“Caleb Widogast, I  _ like _ you. I like talking with you, I like kissing you, and I really like having sex with you. If you are okay with me being inexperienced and not knowing what I’m doing, I think I’d like to try and be in a relationship with you, if--if that’s what you want, too.”

 

Caleb answers him with a kiss. “I’d like that, Mollymauk Tealeaf. I like you too, you know.” He kisses him again, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling him close. “And besides, the last time I was in a relationship was well over ten years ago, and it didn’t end well. We can be inexperienced together, if you’d like.”

 

“I’d like that,” Molly laughs, kisses him again, and they entertain one another until the sun rises.

 

* * *

 

 

2.

 

_ “Caleb! Are you alright? You never came back to the room last night! You can reply to this message.” _

 

Caleb groans at the message in his head, and pries himself away from Molly’s tangled mess of limbs. Outside the window, the sun has just barely begun to peak up in the sky. 

 

“I’m fine, Nott. I fell asleep downstairs preparing spells, and ended up bunking with Molly because his room was closer. I’ll be up in our room soon.”

 

It’s not  _ technically _ a lie, so he doesn’t feel guilty about what he tells Nott. Besides, she was  _ exhausted  _ last night, the fight with the frost giants the day before having taken a lot out of her. He would have hated to have woken her, he reasons.

 

_ “...Alright. See you soon. _ ” She stops the spell, and Caleb makes himself get out of bed, but not before kissing Molly senselessly.

* * *

 

 

3.

 

They are holding hands in the marketplace.

 

They haven’t told anyone yet, but then again, there really isn’t much to tell. They came downstairs at different times from different places, and when they sit next to each other at breakfast time their knees rub together and they share longing looks between toast and coffee. When the party splits up for the afternoon, Beau ( _ bless her _ ) steals Nott away, needing her sticky fingers for some lingering mischief, and no one seems surprised when Molly and Caleb volunteer to get supplies together before the group heads out of town. Molly always loves shopping, and Caleb is always on the lookout for magical items, so it makes sense for them to go together.

 

The town is small and doesn’t have much of a marketplace, but as soon as they are away from the group Caleb takes Molly’s hand into his, and Molly’s smile is brighter than any star.

 

...They aren’t hiding their relationship. Not really. But it is  _ new _ , and fragile, and they don’t know how the others will react yet.

 

So they hold hands and stroll the marketplace, enjoying one another’s company and the pleasant weather. The Mighty Nein have been traveling long enough that winter is finally starting to end, and it shows in the marketplace. The vendors are selling fruits and vegetables, the first bounties of harvest after a long winter. There’s still a bit of a chill in the air, though, so Molly insists on buying Caleb a scarf, and Caleb buys Molly strawberries. 

 

“Are these strawberries magical?” Molly teases, feeding one of the strawberries to Frumpkin, currently resting on his shoulders. “If I give a normal strawberry to a magic cat, does it become magical?”

 

“It doesn’t work that way, I’m afraid,” Caleb smiles softly, picking up a new blanket for Nott and a pillow for Jester. He’s already used Detect Magic to scan the marketplace, and he knows he won’t find anything of value here. He’s content instead to marvel at the feeling of Molly’s hand in his own, and the sheer joy he feels being here with this man.

 

“What about this hat?” Molly winks, pulling a [bycocket ](https://www.google.com/search?q=bycocket&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS700US700&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj__-GKvojcAhWE3FMKHc9XBEgQ_AUICigB)from a vendor’s stall and placing it on his head in between his horns. “It’s terribly tacky--it  _ must _ be magical. Why else would anyone wear it?”

 

“I’m afraid not,” he grins as Molly puts the hat back. “It was a good look on you, though.”

 

“I make  _ everything  _ look good.”

 

“You do,” Caleb grins. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices a young halfling girl selling flowers that she’s woven together into crowns. “Wait a moment, I may have something.”

 

“Something magical?”

 

“Uh huh,” he pulls away from Molly, kneels before the little girl, and takes one of her flower crown gently. The crocus flowers are white and purple and yellow, and they reminds him of Molly. He takes it and delicately places it on Molly’s head, careful to avoid the horns.

 

“I was right,” he says, slipping two silver pieces to the halfling girl, enjoying the stunned look on Molly’s face. “Absolutely magical.”

 

Without warning, Molly wraps his hands around Caleb’s waist and pulls him close, dipping him into a long kiss, and refuses to take the flower crown off for the rest of the day.

 

* * *

 

4.

 

Two stalls away, Jester turns to the halfling merchant. “That was the cutest shit I have ever seen.” She places some gold on the counter and takes her items. “I’ve got to go tell everyone,  _ immediately. _ ”

 

* * *

 

5.

 

They leave Swanhill a little before noon, and they make decent progress on their way back to Zadash. Everyone is distracted by Nott and Beau’s story of “how we almost went to jail and might’ve blown up a very grumpy person’s front lawn”, so no one really notices Caleb’s head on Molly’s shoulder for most of the ride.

 

When they go to make camp and the first watches are drawn, Molly ends up on watch with Fjord, and everything is a normal, quiet evening.

 

“So,” Fjord starts, coughing a little as he pokes the fire. “You and Caleb.”

 

“What about me and Caleb?”

 

“You two are,” he makes a vague hand gesture, as if it’s supposed to explain anything at all. “You know?”

 

“Speak common, man.”

 

“Jester saw you two, at the market. Kissin’ and whatnot. You wanna talk about it?”

 

Molly raises an eyebrow, and notices the blush on Fjord’s face. “Do  _ you  _ want to talk about it?”

 

“Absolutely not. It’s none of my business, but you look like you are about 30 seconds away from carving a heart with Caleb’s initials in a tree over there, and I need you to help keep watch.” 

 

“Is that a thing people do?” Molly asks, and then looks over at one of the trees as if Fjord had just given him a wonderful idea.

 

“Yes. Also, focus,” Fjord pokes and prods at the fire. “I told Jester not to bring it up, ‘cause I reckon it’s y’alls business who you tell and what not. But talking about it may help?”

 

That is, apparently, all the encouragement Molly needs to start gushing. “He called me _magical_. He bought me  _ flowers _ , Fjord! I’ve never had anyone buy me flowers before ever in my life.”

 

“They’ll go bad though, you know. The flowers. They’re--they’re a bit temporary.”

 

Molly looks appropriately scandalized. “Where’s Yasha when I need her??? I need her to press these and preserve them forever.”

 

Fjord chuckles. “Things are going well then, I guess?”

 

“Fjord. Fjord. Things are going  _ amazing. _ He makes me crazy in the best way possible. He makes me want to go carve his name in a tree. He makes me want to go read poetry, and I don’t fucking know how to  _ read _ . He makes me want to--wait, there’s something in the tree.”

 

Fjord pulls out his sword. “What is it?”

 

“--Nothing, nevermind, it’s a squirrel. Let me tell you about his dick--”

 

Fjord goes bright green. “ _ MOLLY--” _

* * *

 

 

6.

 

Caleb and Jester have second watch. Molly kisses Caleb goodnight, and as soon as Molly's in the tent Jester turns to him, a bright, cheeky grin on her face.

 

“Caaa- _ leb _ ,” She starts, half in song, as Caleb looks down, playing with his new scarf around his neck and enjoying it’s warmth. “Caleb Caleb Caleb. You must tell me  _ everything _ .”

 

“Everything?” he winks at her, causing her to giggle.

 

“Caleb!”

 

“We’re supposed to be on watch, you know,” he teases her. “Not gossiping about my love life.”

 

“Your  _ love life _ ,” she sings, scooting closer to him on the log. “You  _ love _ him?”

 

He could, he thinks, suddenly, and the thought feels overwhelming. Maybe not right now, but in the future...he could see it. He could certainly grow to love Mollymauk Tealeaf. The thought should be terrifying, but it isn’t. Instead, it’s warm and bright, just like the scarf on his neck.

 

He smiles softly at Jester, and doesn’t say a word.

 

“Caleb you are the  _ worst!”  _ Jester shrieks as quietly as she can, only half-conscious of their sleeping companions not too terrible far away. “Give me  _ one  _ thing. Just one! And then I’ll leave you be!”

 

“You promise?”

 

She holds out her hand to him. “Pinky-swear!”

 

He links pinkies with her and shakes her hand. 

 

“He’s very...limber.” He tells her with a wink.

 

Jester throws her pillow at him.

* * *

 

 

7.

 

On a tree about half a days travel away from Swanhill, there’s a giant heart carved into one of the oldest trees in the forest. Inside the heart, someone has craved “MT + CW”.

 

In a cart heading south, a tiefling and a human hold hands, and wait for spring. 


End file.
